Class Visit: Hannah Badwan
screenshot of the Little River, Miami landing page
One of my favorite parts of my Professional Practices class has been our class visitors and site visits as we learn from and network with designers in the Denver Metro area. Today, Hannah Badwan visited our class.
I appreciated hearing about Hannah’s professional journey, which has been somewhat of a winding path, rather like my own. Hannah has worked primarily as an in-house designer, which is where I see myself landing as well. Throughout her visit, Hannah emphasized the amount of creative control and influence she had as an in-house designer. That ability to shape and grow with a company is one of the things most appealing to me about working in-house.
However, as a student, Hannah dreamed of working at a design agency. Upon graduation the roles she found took her in-house at various real estate companies. First she worked at Camp David, a co-working space, and then after that with AJ Capital in Miami focusing on their Little River development. The brand standards at these two companies could not have been more different. Camp David reflected the rigid design principle of Swiss design, utilizing grids, clean typography, and very limited color palette of black, white and (on special occasions) peach. At AJ Capital, the style was much more bold and bright. In no work could it be referred to as “restrained.
One of the most compelling aspects of Hannah’s experience was her emphasis on the collaborative and entrepreneurial nature of in-house design. She highlighted how in-house designers must treat every non-designer they interact with as a client. This requires strong interpersonal skills, self-motivation, and organization to ensure smooth communication and project success. I found her anecdote about pitching the idea for Walter’s Mercado, a real estate development project with a unique brand identity and Hector the Cat mascot, particularly inspiring. It demonstrated the creative freedom and strategic influence that in-house designers can wield.
As part of the wide range of experience Hannah had has an in-house designer, Hannah not only worked on branding and marketing materials, but also environmental design and art directing videos for investors. Hannah was clearly so invested in Little River and their tenants. Her love for her work was clear in both the assets she shared with us and her tone of presentation
Hearing about her journey reinforced my interest in working in-house, where I can inspire change and drive impact from within, although I hope to be in a UX role.
